Friday, November 23, 2012

November 23

Slow news day.....

Jennifer Rubin has a problem with President Obama's "class warfare" on those clearing more than a quarter-mil a year, particularly with Susan Estrich not being happy about it.

I don't mean to pick on Estrich. She's a very pleasant, reasonable Democrat (and a former, fellow congregant of ours). But she is indicative of the problem facing Obama and fellow liberals. If you live in New York or Los Angeles and have an income of $250,000, two kids and a house in a nice but not ostentatious neighborhood, you are not living a lavish lifestyle and you already pay gobs and gobs in taxes. You didn't inherit wealth and you worked hard in college and in your profession, only to find yourself living paycheck to paycheck. And now, you're going to get socked with a tax hike.

You see, Obama's class warfare game becomes far less effective when the targets aren't a sliver of plutocrats but hardworking white-collar parents with school bills, aging parents and no idea how they are ever going to retire. (They're not, as to the latter. In 20 years, offices will be filled with professionals age 70 and up, which creates a whole other slew of problems, but that's for another time.)

I think if I ever met anyone making $250,000 a year who claimed to be living "paycheck-to-paycheck", I think I would be compelled to smash them over the head with a 2×4 with the words "Get the hell over yourself" written on it in Sharpie until my arms fell off. Little math here, top marginal tax rates going up only on income earned over that point would for a household earning $300K amount to about three-quarters of a percent in additional taxes total on that income. My heart weeps tears of something something whatever.

The Republic has had much higher marginal tax rates over the last 100 years or so, and America has mysteriously avoided implosion and Mad Max mode. Get over it, it's going to happen. Either that, or get a copy of Quicken and see where all your frigging money is going, then come up with one percent less. Pink Himalayan salt and all.